U.S., G7 Taking on Forced Labor, Cyber Threat, Corruption

U.S., G7 Taking on Forced Labor, Cyber Threat, Corruption

President Joe Biden and leaders from the group of democracies known as G7 declared their commitment to tackle forced labor in global supply chains, ransomware threats, and corruption.

The United States and its G7 partners remain deeply concerned by the use of all forms of forced labor in global supply chains, including state-sponsored forced labor of vulnerable groups, such as Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang, China. Agricultural, solar, and garment sectors are the main supply chains of concern in Xinjiang. Leaders agreed on the importance of upholding human rights and committed to protect individuals from forced labor.

Additionally, the G7 countries are committed to jointly addressing the threat from criminal ransomware networks. There have been significant cyber intrusions affecting many G7 members’ and other nations’ critical infrastructure, manufacturing and electronics firms, and hospitals. Transnational cybercriminal enterprises leverage infrastructure, virtual currency, and money laundering networks, and target victims all over the globe. Both governments and the private sector must work together to ensure that critical infrastructure is resilient against this threat.

Moreover, malicious cyber activity must be investigated and prosecuted, and collective cyber defenses must be built up. Individual countries also need to address the criminal activity taking place within their borders.

The G7 also agreed to take collective action to combat corruption. President Biden recently declared efforts to curb corruption a core U.S. national interest and issued a National Security Study Memorandum on the Fight Against Corruption to elevate this vital work. Corruption corrodes public trust; makes government less effective; wastes public resources; and eats away at the foundations of democratic societies. Further, corruption exerts a massive cost on economies and is fundamentally unfair to citizens.

Together with its G7 partners, the United States will tackle the misuse of shell companies, limit the ability of bad actors to launder dirty money in real estate purchases, improve corruption-related information sharing, and reform foreign assistance to focus on anticorruption as a cross-cutting priority. The U.S. welcomes the G7 commitment to take collective action in combatting corruption.

As President Biden said, “America is back in the business of leading the world alongside nations who share our most deeply held values.”